Teenager Kathy Gloddy Went Out For Candy in 1971 But Never Returned Home

Kathy Gloddy was kidnapped, likely raped, and repeatedly run over with a car almost 40 years ago

​It was about 5 p.m. on November 21, 1971 when cute Kathy Gloddy, 13, left her parents' home in the sleepy New Hampshire town of Franklin to walk to a nearby convenience store to buy junk food. She was accompanied by Tasha, her German shepherd dog, who went nearly everywhere that Kathy went. She ended up buying ice cream and potato sticks, then headed toward Franklin High School, where one of her older sisters was attending a banquet.

She never returned home.

"When Tasha came home without Kathy, we were worried," said Kathy's sister. "And then the dog was running around in circles, acting crazy and pawing at the door as if looking for Kathy."

Kathy and her sisters always came home when they were supposed to, and never stayed out late worrying their parents...

Horrified, her family notified Franklin police.Her body, however, was not found until the following day at the end of a winding dirt road about three miles from her home.

The location was in the woods, not far from a popular swimming hole, according to Jim Conrad, a former New Hampshire trooper who worked on the case. Her body was nude except for knee-high socks, and it appeared that she had been repeatedly run over by a car.

An autopsy was conducted the next day by a forensic pathologist from neighboring Massachusetts, and it was determined that Kathy had died as a result of "traumatic asphyxia and multiple blunt injuries."

Her liver had been ruptured, and her skull fractured. The pathologist noted that there was evidence that she had been raped, but DNA was not available at that time.

Investigators put together a timeline of her whereabouts that seemed to end after she was spotted at Franklin High School. The location where her body was found was about a mile from the high school, and investigators believe it was merely a dumping site.

Detectives had several suspects they were looking at, but not have enough evidence to make an arrest, said Sgt. Scott Gilbert of NHSP. One was Edward Earl Dukette, 28 at the time, who had lived with his wife in an apartment above the Gloddy's home.

Kathy's father, Earl Gloddy, had evicted the couple prior to Kathy's death. Earl Gloddy had also served on a jury in a rape trial in which Dukette's father was convicted of statutory rape.

During the investigation, detectives learned that Dukette was not a stranger to law enforcement. In July 1971, prior to moving to New Hampshire, Dukette had asked a 14-year-old girl to babysit for him in his Gardenia, California home. Instead of babysitting a child, the girl said she was repeatedly raped and beaten by Dukette for several hours.

After Kathy's death, Dukette moved to Texas, where he was arrested in 1972 for the California rape. He was extradited to California, convicted, and began serving a five-year prison term in 1973. In the meantime, Kathy's case had gone cold.

It was not until March 2006 that investigators finally got a break. As it turned out, Dukette unexpectedly showed up at the Dixie County Jail in Cross City, Florida, where he had also served time for raping and nearly killing a young girl, and began providing information about Kathy Gloddy's murder.

Dixie County authorities, of course, knew nothing of Kathy's death, but when they confirmed her murder with New Hampshire cops they were told that Dukette had been among the original suspects in the case.

Among the revelations that Dukette made to Florida detectives was that he and Kathy Gloddy had gone fishing together. While in the front seat of his car, he said they engaged in "petting, fondling, and lovemaking," and seemed to think that the cops would believe his sickening story.

He said that Kathy left the car at one point, but that he could not recall what had happened next. He claimed that he later found her lying in the water, and had placed her body in the trunk of his car and had driven her to a place where he buried her.

His account did not seem to fit the facts, nor did his information -- aside from knowing about Kathy and her murder -- seem credible. He later recanted what he had told the cops.

Dukette, also known as "Dirty Eddie" and "Filthy McNasty," was known for heavy drinking, motorcycle riding and for being rough with women.

Kathy's body was exhumed in 2006 to allow investigators to search for additional clues, but they were unable to find anything that they could use. Because there is so little evidence left, they are attempting to obtain post-mortem DNA evidence that was collected by the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy.

Making matters even worse, Dukette died in a hospice in August and took whatever he knew about Kathy's case with him to the grave.

Kathy's family and a private investigator believe that more than one person may be responsible for her murder, and they are not giving up hope that the case will be solved. The family is organizing a reward fund in conjunction with the Carole Sund Foundation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NHSP's Crime Unit tip line at 603-271-3636.